A day after apologies, Christie keeps out of sight as speculation swirls

Governor Christie followed nearly two hours of nationally televised apologies, two staff dismissals, four penitent tweets, a pair of YouTube videos and one heavily watched meeting with the Fort Lee mayor on Thursday with complete public silence on Friday.

The normally outspoken governor went without an appearance or remark as an Assembly panel released thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents that showed how members of his staff knew about lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that wreaked havoc on Fort Lee traffic four months ago.

Many questions remain unanswered: Did Christie hire an attorney? Is he concerned about the federal investigation? Did his continued questioning of staff shed any light on why the lane closures were ordered? Was it political retribution? Will he take further action?

His office did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The escalating controversy comes at a time when Christie is preparing for his State of the State address Tuesday, a speech that will set the tone for his second and final term. He canceled one-on-one interviews with reporters that have traditionally been used to reflect on his accomplishments.

Not a whisper came out of his communications office, which was inundated with media inquiries about the latest developments, as it continues to work to control the crisis.

Democrats say the new documents show that members of Christie’s inner circle were involved in a months-long coverup of an act of political retribution that was passed off as a traffic study.

Christie’s silence comes as more questions were raised and an analysis by Pew Research Center shows that social media users were more critical of him after he apologized Thursday than before he addressed the public.

Analysts say the actions of Christie’s staff could carry political and legal ramifications for the governor, who until now has been called a front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2016.

But if the Republicans whom Christie is entrusted with helping elect in his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association this year have any concerns, they aren’t airing them publicly. Christie is set to campaign with Florida Gov. Rick Scott next weekend.

The trip, one of many the governor is expected to make with 36 gubernatorial races this year, will be the first test of Christie’s political capital since ties between his staff and the traffic flap became public.

Norm Pattis, a leading Connecticut criminal defense and civil rights attorney, said that although the documents do not indicate Christie was personally involved, if he created an environment that condoned vindictive actions, he could find himself in trouble.

“From what I’m learning as a result of his story, he’s a sharp-elbows kind of guy, and he’s used to engaging in this sort of conduct, or so the claim seems to be,” Pattis said. “If you can show a pattern or practice and you bring in other witnesses to testify to that, the picture that emerges is a governor who doesn’t play fair and who pushes people around.”

If Christie is implicated, the penalties could be severe.

“He faces potentially huge criminal liability under a federal statute that criminalizes depriving people of equal protection of the law by a state actor,” Pattis said.

Christie held a news conference Thursday to announce that he had fired Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff, after The Record obtained an email she sent David Wildstein, the governor’s appointee at the Port Authority, saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

Christie also asked Bill Stepien, one of his top political advisers, to end his consulting work with the Republican Governors Association and withdraw his name from consideration for chairman of the state GOP. Christie said he did not expect the controversy to affect his ability to serve as chairman of the governors group.

Some of the biggest questions Christie faces is why he didn’t bring Kelly or Stepien in for questioning, something Christie said he would not do because of the Assembly hearings. And if Christie is called to testify himself, will he appear?

Brigid Harrison, a political science and law professor at Montclair State University, said Christie’s claim that he doesn’t want to be accused of witness tampering is a plausible legal argument. But she said that when asked whether he would comply if subpoenaed by the Assembly panel, he “was very cagy.”

“If he truly had no information, he really believes this was an isolated case of single individuals or several individuals in his administration undertaking this unauthorized action, then the response could be, ‘I’ll open up all records,’Ÿ” she said.

Christie did say he would cooperate fully with the federal investigation.

The actions of his appointees – Wildstein and former Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, who have both resigned — led the Port Authority’s Office of the Inspector General to ask the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate. U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sought information from the Port Authority and called for the federal government to investigate, said Thursday that he will not hold hearings if there is a criminal investigation.

Pattis said that if U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman pursues criminal charges, he could issue warrants for documents and would likely not put up with some of the redactions the state Assembly panel has been faced with. Pattis said he expects a grand jury would ask questions about the authors of the emails and text messages.

And the civil class action suit filed against Christie, Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein by commuters caught in the gridlock could be converted into a criminal case if the Justice Department thinks it rises to that level, Pattis said.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the chairman of the committee investigating the matter, is asking that his subpoena authority, which ends with the legislative session Monday, be renewed.

“As with so much else we’ve discovered during this investigation, these documents raise many more questions,” Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, said. “It’s obvious that senior members of the governor’s staff were involved in spin control once this story broke.”

Sen. Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, who said Friday that he’ll join Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, in reintroducing on Tuesday a Port Authority transparency bill Christie previously vetoed, questioned whether the governor – whom he has sparred with – really played no role in creating a culture of vindictive behavior.

“I think there was an atmosphere created that fostered these kinds of activities,” he said.

Governor Christie followed nearly two hours of nationally televised apologies, two staff dismissals, four penitent tweets, a pair of YouTube videos and one heavily watched meeting with the Fort Lee mayor on Thursday with complete public silence on Friday.

The normally outspoken governor went without an appearance or remark as an Assembly panel released thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents that showed how members of his staff knew about lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that wreaked havoc on Fort Lee traffic four months ago.

Many questions remain unanswered: Did Christie hire an attorney? Is he concerned about the federal investigation? Did his continued questioning of staff shed any light on why the lane closures were ordered? Was it political retribution? Will he take further action?

His office did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The escalating controversy comes at a time when Christie is preparing for his State of the State address Tuesday, a speech that will set the tone for his second and final term. He canceled one-on-one interviews with reporters that have traditionally been used to reflect on his accomplishments.

Not a whisper came out of his communications office, which was inundated with media inquiries about the latest developments, as it continues to work to control the crisis.

Democrats say the new documents show that members of Christie’s inner circle were involved in a months-long coverup of an act of political retribution that was passed off as a traffic study.

Christie’s silence comes as more questions were raised and an analysis by Pew Research Center shows that social media users were more critical of him after he apologized Thursday than before he addressed the public.

Analysts say the actions of Christie’s staff could carry political and legal ramifications for the governor, who until now has been called a front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2016.

But if the Republicans whom Christie is entrusted with helping elect in his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association this year have any concerns, they aren’t airing them publicly. Christie is set to campaign with Florida Gov. Rick Scott next weekend.

The trip, one of many the governor is expected to make with 36 gubernatorial races this year, will be the first test of Christie’s political capital since ties between his staff and the traffic flap became public.

Norm Pattis, a leading Connecticut criminal defense and civil rights attorney, said that although the documents do not indicate Christie was personally involved, if he created an environment that condoned vindictive actions, he could find himself in trouble.

“From what I’m learning as a result of his story, he’s a sharp-elbows kind of guy, and he’s used to engaging in this sort of conduct, or so the claim seems to be,” Pattis said. “If you can show a pattern or practice and you bring in other witnesses to testify to that, the picture that emerges is a governor who doesn’t play fair and who pushes people around.”

If Christie is implicated, the penalties could be severe.

“He faces potentially huge criminal liability under a federal statute that criminalizes depriving people of equal protection of the law by a state actor,” Pattis said.

Christie held a news conference Thursday to announce that he had fired Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff, after The Record obtained an email she sent David Wildstein, the governor’s appointee at the Port Authority, saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

Christie also asked Bill Stepien, one of his top political advisers, to end his consulting work with the Republican Governors Association and withdraw his name from consideration for chairman of the state GOP. Christie said he did not expect the controversy to affect his ability to serve as chairman of the governors group.

Some of the biggest questions Christie faces is why he didn’t bring Kelly or Stepien in for questioning, something Christie said he would not do because of the Assembly hearings. And if Christie is called to testify himself, will he appear?

Brigid Harrison, a political science and law professor at Montclair State University, said Christie’s claim that he doesn’t want to be accused of witness tampering is a plausible legal argument. But she said that when asked whether he would comply if subpoenaed by the Assembly panel, he “was very cagy.”

“If he truly had no information, he really believes this was an isolated case of single individuals or several individuals in his administration undertaking this unauthorized action, then the response could be, ‘I’ll open up all records,’Ÿ” she said.

Christie did say he would cooperate fully with the federal investigation.

The actions of his appointees – Wildstein and former Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, who have both resigned — led the Port Authority’s Office of the Inspector General to ask the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate. U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sought information from the Port Authority and called for the federal government to investigate, said Thursday that he will not hold hearings if there is a criminal investigation.

Pattis said that if U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman pursues criminal charges, he could issue warrants for documents and would likely not put up with some of the redactions the state Assembly panel has been faced with. Pattis said he expects a grand jury would ask questions about the authors of the emails and text messages.

And the civil class action suit filed against Christie, Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein by commuters caught in the gridlock could be converted into a criminal case if the Justice Department thinks it rises to that level, Pattis said.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the chairman of the committee investigating the matter, is asking that his subpoena authority, which ends with the legislative session Monday, be renewed.

“As with so much else we’ve discovered during this investigation, these documents raise many more questions,” Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, said. “It’s obvious that senior members of the governor’s staff were involved in spin control once this story broke.”

Sen. Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, who said Friday that he’ll join Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, in reintroducing on Tuesday a Port Authority transparency bill Christie previously vetoed, questioned whether the governor – whom he has sparred with – really played no role in creating a culture of vindictive behavior.

“I think there was an atmosphere created that fostered these kinds of activities,” he said.